SANTA FE, NM (By Jon Garrido, The Jon Garrido Network) January 6, 2012 ― The United States House of Representatives on November 2, 2011, voted in favor of a Congressional resolution reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the national motto and supporting its placement on public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.

This House Concurrent Resolution 13, which passed by a vote of 396 to 9, with 2 voting present, was sponsored by Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va.). He added, “As our nation faces challenging times, it is appropriate for Members of Congress and our nation - like our predecessors - to firmly declare our trust in God, believing it will sustain us for generations to come.”

What Forbes and many other Americans fail to recognize or acknowledge is “In God We Trust” only became our official motto in 1956, at the height of the Cold War and the McCarthy witch-hunt for communists, as a means to separate us from godless communism.

The de facto motto established by our founders had been E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for “Out of Many, One.”

We are a diverse population, and this phrase confirms American diversity as our source of strength. We are one nation made up of people from many lands, and people of many faiths and none.

Freedom of religion is one of our fundamental liberties. Nobody has the right to “establish” any religious sentiment, or claim to speak for all Americans on this important issue. We are a nation of laws, a country that respects the freedom of and freedom from religion for every American. Those of us who would like to restore the movingly appropriate “E pluribus unum” are being true to our country’s historic traditions.

Officially, the United States has no religious test for elected officials. The prohibition is in Article VI, section 3 of the Constitution: “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Accordingly, the government may not prevent an individual from seeking or holding office because of their particular religious faith or lack thereof.

Voters, however, are an entirely different matter. Since 2000, more than two-thirds of Americans want the President to be a person of faith, which effectively imposes a test of religious belief for candidates. And some voters go even further—often explicitly encouraged by their religious leaders—by reserving their support for candidates who openly profess theological beliefs similar to their own.

At a CNN debate, Anderson Cooper asked GOP presidential aspirants whether voters should subject candidates to such religious tests. Answers ranged from the enthusiastically pro-test position of Newt Gingrich – “How can you have judgment if you have no faith? And how can I trust you with power if you don’t pray?”

Only Mitt Romney was willing to challenge the concept of a religious test. “That idea that we should choose people based upon their religion for public office is what I find to be most troubling,” he said. “The founders of this country went to great lengths to make sure — and even put in the Constitution — we would not choose people who represent us in government based upon their religion.” The answer was self-serving, yes, given Romney has the most to lose if Republican voters judge him by his Mormon faith.

Americans wouldn’t accept an ethnic or gender test for office. Why then do so many voters impose a de facto religious requirement on their candidates?

In some instances, a candidate’s religion is simply a matter of tribal identity. In 1960, 78% of Catholic voters chose Kennedy; 62% of Protestant voters did not. Similarly, in the 2008 Republican primaries, the vast majority of Mormon voters supported Romney while evangelical Christians largely backed his opponents.

Some voters, particularly conservative evangelicals, are like Pastor Robert Jeffress, whose comments at the recent Values Voters Summit brought the question of religious tests back into the news. In an interview on CNN after his speech, Jeffress said that “Born-again followers of Christ should always prefer a competent Christian…to a competent non-Christian like Mitt Romney.” He went on, “As Christians we have the duty to prefer and select Christians as our leaders.” The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer, who also spoke at the Summit, echoed that belief: “The next President needs to be a man of sincere, authentic, genuine Christian faith.”

The relevance of candidates’ theological beliefs some argue that everything should be on the table. “Shouldn’t we know if Rick Santorum believes homosexuality is a sin?”

Often in modern politics, however, the conversation dwells at length on the question of religious motivation, which supporters and detractors alike believe tells them everything they need to know about a politician. The conservative supporters of a Republican candidate see opposition to homosexuality or evolution as evidence the politician will support their entire agenda. And liberal detractors use the same beliefs to belittle the candidate as backwards and anti-science.

In 2008, departing Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney huddled with a godly group. Gathered in his kitchen were 15 of the country's leading evangelicals, including giants like Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention. They'd come to quiz Romney on his faith. Why on earth should they support Romney, a Mormon, in his presidential candidacy in 2008? Richard Lee, a Baptist minister from Cumming, Ga., got to the heart of the matter. What did Romney really believe about Jesus Christ? Romney didn't hesitate. "When I say Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior, I realize that means something different to you than it does to me," he admitted. But he urged them to remember their shared beliefs: the faith Christ was born of a virgin, was crucified and rose after three days. The ministers were pleased.

Romney, an eager candidate for the Republican nomination, is hoping other evangelicals will have trouble telling the difference. With the slim win in Iowa caucuses, he is working tirelessly for the support of Christian conservatives. In another year, this might be a futile quest given many evangelicals' conviction Mormonism is a heretical cult. Christians believe anyone who believes they too can become God is Satanic. Unlike evangelicals, Mormons believe Jesus appeared in America after his resurrection and God himself was once a man.

Mormons all believe Jesus Christ is the son of God. This they profess to the world thus making them similar to all religions who believe in Jesus Christ.

This expression of believing in Jesus on the surface does not expose what lies beneath the surface. From the beginning, Mormons have used half truths to evangelize the world. Mormons claim they believe Jesus is the son of God but what they fail to add — Mormons believe God has many sons.

In fact, any Mormon who leads a life on earth adhering to the teachings of Mormonism can achieve becoming a son of God just exactly as Jesus did on planet Earth. Mormons believe when they die, they too can be elevated to Celestial Heaven and become a son of God on another planet. In essence they become Tom Christ, Frank Christ, James Christ exactly as Jesus Christ became the son of God on Earth. This belief in Jesus is a half truth that on examination reveals Mormons can become God just like Jesus Christ.

Mormons further believe their birth, as other births on planet Earth, are of a man and woman but herein is the crux of deceiving the truth by using a lie.

Christians such as Catholics, Baptists, Evangelicals, Episcopalians and other religions believe Jesus is the only son of God that was given life by the Holy Spirit using Mary in a virgin birth that brought about the birth of Jesus as the only son of God.

Mormons believe their natural process of being born was brought about a man and woman just like yours and mine.

This profound difference is never spoken of in an interview of a Mormon. When the above leading evangelicals interviewed Romney, they were easily deflected in pursuing the truth by readily accepting Mormons believe in Jesus. Romney said, "When I say Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior, I realize that means something different to you than it does to me."

The leading evangelicals did not go far enough. They accept Romney's answer of believing in Jesus but their questioning did not go on to a follow up question. The problem is persons like the leading evangelicals do not know enough about Mormonism to ask probing questions.

There are other "Mormon truths" that as of late have been exposed.

The Mormon Church instilled the conviction millions of Native Americans were descended from a lost tribe of Israel that reached the New World more than 2,000 years ago.

Mormons have been taught all blessings of that Hebrew lineage belong to Mormons making Mormons special people.

This gives a sense of transcendental identity, an identity with God.

A few years ago, this faith was shaken and Mormon identity stripped away by DNA evidence showing the ancestors of American natives came from Asia, not the Middle East.

For Mormons, the lack of discernible Hebrew blood in Native Americans is no minor collision between faith and science. It burrows into the historical foundations of the Book of Mormon, a 175-year-old transcription the church regards as literal and without error.

For those outside the faith, the depth of the church's dilemma can be explained this way: Imagine if DNA evidence revealed the Pilgrims didn't sail from Europe to escape religious persecution but rather were part of a migration from Iceland — and that U.S. history books were wrong.

Critics want the church to admit its mistake and apologize to millions of Native Americans it converted. Church leaders have shown no inclination to do so. Indeed, they have dismissed as heresy any suggestion Native American genetics undermine the Mormon creed.

 The Freedom of religion is one of our fundamental liberties. Nobody has the right to “establish” any religious sentiment, or claim to speak for all Americans on this important issue. We are a nation of laws, a country that respects the freedom of and freedom from religion for every American.

Mitt Romney has the right bestowed in every American to practice and believe in any religion of one's choosing but Mitt Romney does not have the right to lie to to deceive Americans to obtain their votes.

Mormonism is based on lies. Lies are not a foundation to build a presidential campaign. If a person can lie about what he believes in God, then he can lie to the American people about anything. For many voters, religion is simply a proxy. It’s a way of getting a sense of a candidate’s moral foundation, his philosophical worldview. Voters aren’t wrong to care about moral views that guide a candidate.

Mitt Romney is not a Christian. Mitt Romney is devious, a liar, and is a member of a cult that believes its members can become God exactly as Jesus Christ.

To believe one can become God is to worship Satan the Devil.